Novel terthiophene-substituted fullerene derivatives as easily accessible acceptor molecules for bulk-heterojunction polymer solar cells

Five fulleropyrrolidines and methanofullerenes, bearing one or two terthiophene moieties, have been prepared in a convenient way and well characterized. These novel fullerene derivatives are characterized by good solubility and by better harvesting of the solar radiation with respect to traditional PCBM. In addition, they have a relatively high LUMO level and a low band gap that can be easily tuned by an adequate design of the link between the fullerene and the terthiophene. Preliminary results show that they are potential acceptors for the creation of efficient bulk-heterojunction solar cells based on donor polymers containing thiophene units

Ocena ryzyka związanego z funkcjonowaniem składowiska odpadów Veliki Krivelj, Bor (Serbia)

The Tailings Storage Facility Veliki Krivelj was formed by damming the Krivelj River valley, and it constitutes one of the largest industrial waste disposal sites in Serbia. As such, it represents a big challenge for the Bor Copper Mine in terms of stability preservation and environmental protection. Bering this in mind, it is safe to say that it is of crucial importance to recognize all the risks involved with its operation and management. This paper presents a semi-quantitative assessment of the risks entailed In the management of Tailings Storage Facility Veliki Krivelj, and demonstrates the use of 4×4 risk matrix to estimate the likelihood of potential failure scenarios and consequences and includes the application of the „As Low As Reasonably Practicable“ diagram for final risk evaluation. The results show that the management of the Tailings Storage Facility Veliki Krivelj is associated with risks that vary from negligible to high, i.e. from broadly to conditionally acceptable risks and also suggest that the irregularities in hydraulic elements and hydro-technical structures at Tailings Storage Facility are the ones with the greatest impact in increasing the risks.Składowisko odpadów poflotacyjnych Veliki Krivelj powstało w dolinie po przegrodzeniu tamą rzeki Krivelj, w chwili obecnej jest to jedno z największych składowisk odpadów przemysłowych na terenie Serbii. W sowim obecnym kształcie stanowi ono wielkie wyzwanie dla zakładu kopalnictwa miedzi Bor, w zakresie ochrony, zachowania i stabilizacji warunków środowiska naturalnego. Mając powyższe względy na uwadze, stwierdzić należy że kwestią absolutnie kluczową jest rozpoznanie wszelkich rodzajów ryzyka związanego z funkcjonowaniem i utrzymaniem wysypiska. W artykule przedstawiono w pół-ilościową analizę ryzyka związanego z funkcjonowaniem składowiska odpadów poflotacyjnych Veliki Krivelj. Zademonstrowane zastosowanie macierzy ryzyka 4×4 do obliczania prawdopodobieństwa awarii w kilku rozpatrywanych scenariuszach działania oraz towarzyszących im skutków. Przedstawiono także zastosowanie diagramu obliczania ryzyka końcowego według schematu „tak niskie, jak tylko praktycznie wykonalne”. Wyniki wskazują, że funkcjonowanie składowiska odpadów poflotacyjnych Veliki Krivelj związane jest występowaniem wielu czynników ryzyka, od pomijalnych do bardzo wysokich poziomów, innymi słowy, od ryzyka powszechnie akceptowanego do czynników akceptowanych warunkowo. Wskazano także, że nieregularne działanie elementów hydraulicznych i hydro-technicznych w ramach urządzeń składowiska stanowi czynnik mający największy wpływ na podniesienie poziomu ryzyka

Returns to Regional Migration: Causal Effect or Selection on Wage Growth?

Human capital theory predicts pecuniary returns to regional migration, but also positive self-selection of migrants. Therefore, when estimating the causal effect of migration one has to take care of potential self-selection. Several authors recommend using fixed effects models thereby controlling for time constant unobserved heterogeneity. However, if selection operates not only on wage level but also on wage growth conventional fixed effects models are also biased. In this paper we want to investigate, whether migrants are self-selected on wage growth and if this biases conventional fixed effects estimates of the returns to migration. We use data from the SOEP 1984 – 2010. First we analyze the time pattern of the wage differential between migrants and stayers to see whether they are on different wage trajectories. Second we introduce a fixed effects model with individual slopes to investigate whether conventional results are biased

Metabolic impairments in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 2

Objectives: metabolic syndrome (MetS) increases risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus type 2. Aim of this study was to investigate frequency and features of MetS in a large cohort of patients with DM2. Materials & methods: this cross-sectional study included 47 DM2 patients. Patients were matched with 94 healthy controls (HCs) for gender and age. MetS was diagnosed according to the new worldwide consensus criteria from 2009. Results: mean age of DM2 patients was 52 ± 11 years, 15 (32%) were males, and mean disease duration was 15 ± 14 years. MetS was present in 53% of DM2 patients and 46% of HCs (p > 0.05). All components of the MetS appeared with the similar frequency in DM2 and HCs, respectively: hypertension 64 vs 52%, central obesity 62 vs 74%, hypertriglyceridemia 49 vs 39%, hyperglycemia 42 vs 33% and low HDL cholesterol 30 vs 42% (p > 0.05). DM2 patients were more commonly on lipid lowering therapy compared to HCs (12 vs 3%, p = 0.05). Fifteen (32%) patients with DM2 and only one (1%) subject from control group had diabetes mellitus (p 0.05). Conclusions: more than half of DM2 subjects met the criteria for the MetS. We suppose that treatment of metabolic disturbances may reduce cardiovascular complications and improve quality of life in patients with DM2, which is progressive and still incurable disorder